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To Be or Not To Be: Culture conflict of Bangladeshis at home and abroad

ZIAUDDIN CHOUDHURYponders over the
confusion created by religion and politics in our cultural identity.

“I do not want my
house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the
cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But
I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.” (Gandhi)

In
the tumultuous days following the August 1975 coup, one of the most bizarre
presents that Khondoker Mushtaq Ahmed gave to the traumatised nation in his
brief Presidency was a new national dress. He decided in a cabinet meeting that
the dress worn by the country's founder (known as Mujib coat) didn't represent our
national character or culture as he had thought or defined it. Therefore, we
needed something that involved a sherwani and a cap as our national dress. We
know what happened to this dress -- no one followed it except perhaps him.

For the next 15 years,
we would have two military leaders, none of whom would impose any new national
dress. But we had toadies who would imitate the favourite dresses of these
leaders and try to pass them as new versions of national dress. None stuck.
What stuck with us, and it still remains as our unrecognised national dress --
the ubiquitous panjabi/pajama for the men, and sari for our women. Because this
is how we would like to define ourselves, and express ourselves.

Our obsession with
dress is but one aspect of our confusion with culture. Time and again we have
come across this dilemma, more so perhaps abroad than at home -- what defines
us as a Bangladeshi? Is it our language, ethnicity or religion?

Unlike other
countries in South Asia, Bangladesh has a high degree of linguistic, religious,
and ethnic homogeneity. While we have a large Hindu minority and there are
small ethnic minorities in the form of tribal groups, the country does not have
the level of ethnic or sectarian tensions that its neighbours do. Our religious
differences, although politically manipulated at times in the past, could never
wipe away our ethnic and linguistic homogeneity. And yet we often seem to have
confusion about our identity, about culture, about what comes first -- the
nation, language or our heritage.

Pablo Picasso had
once said, “If everybody is looking for it (culture), then nobody is finding
it. If we were cultured, we would not be conscious of lacking culture. We would
regard it as something natural and would not make so much fuss about it.” In
all our debates, choices and counter choices in deciding what we are as a
nation we never seem to follow this famous advice. It is ironic that 40 years
later we still have doubters and detractors among us who would like to define a
path of cultural identity different from the one for which we laid down lives.
It is paradoxical that despite that sacrifice to save our language and culture
we still face elements among us who would like to revert to ways of the past
that once led the country to destruction.

This cultural
confusion rises to the surface from time to time either due to political
orientation of some among us who seek to put religion above our national
identity, language and heritage, or lack of pride in some of us for what we are
as a nation. We see evidence of this in counter culture movement both at home
and abroad when some people denigrate our Bengali cultural practices as heretic
or non-religious and urge people to abandon these. We see evidence of this in
products from educational institutions that are nurtured in traditions other
than that of our national culture and heritage. We see evidence of this in the
political philosophy and ideology of leaders who think of themselves as
belonging to a larger community that is tied by a bond of a common religion
rather than by our ethnic and national boundaries.

I say these because
we have zealots among us who want to convert our young and unsuspecting minds
to an identity based on religion alone. The zealots would have us and others
believe that the identities based on language, culture and ethnicities are
inferior to religious identity. They foster an illusion that religious faiths
provide the only platform a people need. They confuse national identity with
the avocation of a common religion, and try to subjugate their national
individuality to religious affiliation.

We have seen the
pernicious effects of these attempts in the past. From 1952 to 1971, we went
through a long period of deprivation and neglect for our people because of the
long drawn language and cultural fight with the forces that were denying us our
rights. Unfortunately, in this fight our political masters that period were not
alone, they had adherents from among us who had ideological affinity with our
rulers of Pakistan period. The culture they believed in was a different one
from what is rooted in our soil, our language and our own Bengali traditions.
This tradition transcends religious boundary, it transcends time, and it binds
all faiths together in a single -- Bengali -- identity.

It is one thing to
have political divisions on how to run a country and its government, and over
economic and social systems that we should have in the country. We can even
have debates on what to wear and not to wear. I can even understand why for
reasons of modesty some can opt to wear a dress that appeals to them, or
someone to sport a beard because of his belief. But it is completely a
different thing when people spurn one's national heritage and cultural
tradition in favour of some alien tradition that has its root elsewhere in the
name of religion. This is a negation of what we truly are, and the values we
stand for regardless of faith and religious persuasion. Should religion alone
define who we are? If that were so, the map of the world would have been
redrawn long ago, and the count of countries much simplified.

There is an
organisation called North American Bangladeshi Islamic Community (or NABIC) in
the US that describes promotion of religious awareness and practices among
Muslims of Bangladeshi heritage in North America as one of its missions.
Similarly there is another organisation named Muslim Ummah of North America
organised and maintained by people of Bangladeshi origin which, among other
things, views itself as an organisation that calls to Muslims to practise Islam
in their personal and social life and try to introduce Islam to the
non-Muslims. One wonders why people hailing from Bangladesh that has close to 90%
of its population practising Islam would require to have the label of their
religion added to any community association that they form. One wonders why
they think that the name Bangladesh is not enough for the appellation they give
to their association or gathering.

We need to come to
grips with the confusion and our conflicted approach to our culture and
identity. At home our political parties need to put aside any debate on our
language and Bengali traditions, and ensure that these are at the forefront of
learning for our next generations. We all need to agree that our first identity
is our Bangladeshi nationhood that derives its strength from centuries of
Bengali tradition and heritage. This in no way stands against our religious
faiths of which there is more than one in our country, albeit in differing
numbers. We need not be afraid of any invasion of alien culture if we are truly
immersed in our own culture and traditions, and teach our next generations to
take pride in these traditions. Our leaders lead the next generation astray
when anyone among them tries to foist any other values over and above our own
Bengali culture and heritage.

The deviant Bengali
elements abroad who seek a platform on religious affinity alone need to heed to
lessons from the past. A nation that was forged some 60 years ago in the
subcontinent based on religious identity fell apart because it was artificial.
It ignored the fundamental basis of national identity of language, culture and
history. The sense of nationhood, i.e. nationalism, is constituted by the
existence of a common feeling, a collective consciousness, among a group of
people bound together in a political unit forming a nation. Religion by itself
does not provide this consciousness. This collective consciousness is a product
of the conditions determined by regional and racial characteristics, a common
language, specific traditions, historical heritage and a common culture. The
founding father of our country gave us this sense. We brought this sense to
fulfillment when we achieved our freedom.

The good news is that
despite the attempts by groups of people to take us to a different path, the
Bengali people have stuck to its culture and language for centuries. The most
important takeaway lesson from all that is happening around us is that the bulk
of our people, both at home and abroad, is proud of our national culture,
language and traditions. This we see in the way we celebrate our culture and
language through festivities both at home and abroad. The deviancies that I
talked about and we see from time to time are attempts that will try to dampen
our spirit. But I am confident these too shall pass, and our culture and
traditions will triumph over any adversity.

Ziauddin
Choudhury works for an international organization in the USA.